CTech's Thursday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Security breach exposes travel plans of Israeli Prime Minister, senior security agents. Information about the international travel plans of the Israeli prime minister, high-ranking Israeli diplomats, and senior agents of Israel’s security agencies was leaked, according to a hacker who claims to have unveiled the breach. Read more 

Nuvei to acquire payment technology company SafeCharge for $890 million. Founded in 2006 by David Avgi and Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi, SafeCharge specializes in payment processing, smart payment, and risk management technologies. Read more

Salesforce Ventures launches $125 million EMEA investment fund. The fund will focus on cloud technology developers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including Israel. Read more

Israel’s Electric Corporation approves compensation settlement with Egypt. IEC had a standing agreement to receive gas from Egypt, but a series of sabotage explosions of the gas pipe during the Arab Spring led to it being shut down since. Read more

Israeli entrepreneurs protest bill granting immunity to Prime Minister Netanyahu. A group of 100 entrepreneurs signed a letter to the Israeli parliament protesting the bill, which they describe as an attack on Israel’s democracy. Netanyahu is currently facing indictment in three separate criminal charges. Read more

IBM to lay off dozens of employees in Tel Aviv R&D center. IBM currently employs some 2,000 people in five locations in Israel, and the downsizing is part of a global reorganization push the company is undergoing. Read more

Solabia Group acquires Israeli biotech Company Algatech. Algatech cultivates microalgae and produces natural astaxanthin, which is used as a nutritional additive and in the cosmetics industry. Read more

Autonomous drone developer Percepto raises $15 million. Israel-based Percepto develops computer vision and automation software for on-site drone systems. Read more

Cybersecurity startup Hunters.AI emerges from Stealth with $5.4 million. Hunters.AI develops an autonomous system that connects to multiple channels within an organization and detects the telltale signs of potential cyber attacks. Read more

SaaS management startup Torii raises $3.5 million. Torii develops a cloud-based management service intended to help IT managers discover, audit, vet and control the SaaS apps that employees use. Read more